Category Archives: Campaigns

Delta Tunnels Hearing at State Water Board Drawing to a Close

Posted on December 4, 2018 by Chris Shutes

After more than three years, 104 days of testimony, and over twenty-four thousand pages of hearing transcripts, the hearing before the State Water Resources Control Board (State Board) on the proposal to construct two tunnels to convey water under the … Continue reading →

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Water Budgets: Numbers Matter

Posted on November 30, 2018 by Chris Shutes

A recent series of articles and blog posts by Jeff Mount and others from the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) proposes a system of “water budgets” for the environment as part of a new system for managing water and … Continue reading →

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Delta Stewardship Council Recommends Pause in Delta Tunnels Project

Posted on November 16, 2018 by Chris Shutes

It now appears that there is almost no chance that Delta tunnels will be approved and begin construction before Governor Brown leaves office in January 2019.  The roadblock emerged on November 15, 2018 in a proceeding before a state agency … Continue reading →

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State Water Board Postpones Decision on San Joaquin River Flows

Posted on November 12, 2018 by Chris Shutes

“Let’s go.” “We can’t.” “Why not?” “We’re waiting for Godot.” ― Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot In response to a joint written request[1] from Governor Brown and incoming Governor Gavin Newsom, the State Water Resources Control Board on November 7, … Continue reading →

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Federal Dam Safety Regulators Describe Need for Big Changes at Oroville Dam

Posted on November 5, 2018 by Chris Shutes

The Division of Dam Safety and Inspections in the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a letter to the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) on October 25, 2018 that requires DWR to reclassify the emergency spillway at Oroville Dam as … Continue reading →

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San Francisco Board of Supervisors Unanimously Supports Update of Bay-Delta Plan

Posted on October 31, 2018 by Chris Shutes

In an 11-0 vote on October 30, 2018, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed a resolution supporting the State Water Resources Control Board’s immediate update of the San Joaquin Flow portion of the Bay-Delta Plan.  Introduced by Supervisor Aaron … Continue reading →

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Irrigation Districts and Trump Administration Bludgeon Federal Fish Agency into Submission

Posted on October 15, 2018 by Chris Shutes

On October 1, 2018, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service wrote a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) retracting its January 29, 2018 flow recommendations for the lower Tuolumne River (see pp. 65-74).  In its October 1 … Continue reading →

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Draft EIS for Yuba River Development Project Omits Key Recommendations to Improve the Lower Yuba River

Posted on August 7, 2018 by Cindy Charles

The California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, as a member of the Foothills Water Network (FWN), submitted 74 pages of comments on July 30, 2018 to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the relicensing … Continue reading →

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Tuolumne River Salmon and Steelhead’s Future Under Serious Political Attack

Posted on May 27, 2018 by Cindy Charles

Last week, San Joaquin Valley Republican Congressman Valadao attached an amendment to the appropriations bill for the Department of Commerce that would prohibit the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) from participation in the licensing proceedings of the Don Pedro and … Continue reading →

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CSPA Presents at Salmonid Restoration Federation Conference

Posted on April 24, 2018 by Cindy Charles

Chris Shutes, CSPA’s FERC Projects Director and Water Rights Advocate, gave a presentation at the 36th Annual Salmonid Restoration Federation Conference recently held in Eureka, CA.  The SRF Conference is the largest salmon restoration conference in California and brings together … Continue reading →

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Conservation Groups Submit Complete Flow Recommendation for Tuolumne River

Posted on February 5, 2018 by Chris Shutes

CSPA and nine other Conservation Groups filed extensive comments and recommendations January 29, 2018 for flow requirements and non-flow measures for the lower Tuolumne River.    The filing is an important milestone in the multi-year licensing process of the Don Pedro … Continue reading →

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CSPA Comments on Sites Reservoir Project

Posted on January 28, 2018 by Cindy Charles

CSPA, AquAlliance and the California Water Impact Network submitted comments on January 12, 2018 on the proposed Sites Reservoir Draft Environmental Impact Report/Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIR/DEIS).  The proposed Sites Project would create a $4 billion reservoir outside of Maxwell, … Continue reading →

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CSPA Submits Testimony on Delta Tunnels – Months of Hearings Start in January

Posted on December 12, 2017 by Chris Shutes

On November 30, CSPA filed testimony and exhibits for the State Water Board’s hearings on the Delta Tunnels (“WaterFix”). This new testimony is for Part 2 of the hearings: impacts to fish and wildlife, recreation, and other Public Trust values. … Continue reading →

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Potter Valley Project Dam Relicensing – Second Comment Letter Submitted to FERC Urging Dam Safety Considerations

Posted on November 22, 2017 by Cindy Charles

In early November, California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, Friends of the River and American Whitewater filed a comment letter with FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) in response to their Scoping Document 2 for the Potter Valley Project. The letter calls for … Continue reading →

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Report on Oroville Describes Urgent Dam Safety and Flood Lessons

Posted on September 19, 2017 by Chris Shutes

Much of California’s dam and flood infrastructure is obsolete and falling apart.  It needs to be fixed now, says a report entitled “The Oroville Dam Spillway Incident and Lessons from the Feather River Basin.”  The authors of report are from … Continue reading →

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CSPA Et Al. Challenges Legality of WaterFix Project Financing

Posted on September 15, 2017 by Bill Jennings

On 13 September 2017, the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, California Water Impact Network, AquAlliance and the California Indian Water Commission challenged the legality of proposed bonds that will be used to pay for the construction of the Department of Water … Continue reading →

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CSPA and Coalition Recommend Flows and Habitat for Lower Yuba River

Posted on August 28, 2017 by Chris Shutes

In a hundred-plus page filing with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on August 25, 2017, CSPA and other members of Foothills Water Network coalition filed recommendations for improving flow and habitat conditions in the lower Yuba River.  The filing … Continue reading →

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Oroville Dam Relicensing – Letter to FERC Requests Delay in New License

Posted on August 28, 2017 by Chris Shutes

CSPA has joined a broad-based ad hoc coalition of entities in an August 8, 2017 letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) that requests a delay in the issuance of a new hydropower license for the Oroville Facilities Project.  … Continue reading →

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Potter Valley Project Dam Relicensing Begins

Posted on August 26, 2017 by Cindy Charles

CSPA, along with several other Conservation Groups[1], submitted extensive comments in early August to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in the just-initiated relicensing of two PG&E dams on the mainstem Eel River.  Cape Horn Dam (built 1908) and Scott … Continue reading →

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CSPA Et Al. Sues Over Delta Tunnels Environmental Documents

Posted on August 24, 2017 by Bill Jennings

On 21 August 2017, the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance and a coalition of environmental groups filed a lawsuit against the Department of Water Resources (DWR) over the inadequacy of its 80,000 plus page Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the WaterFix … Continue reading →

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